Electrical gun.



9; mas: o

PATENTED MAR. 20, 1906.

M. B. THOMAS.

ELECTRICAL GUN.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 1-1906.

31 wehfoz UNITED PATENT orrrcn.

MARTIN E. THOMAS, or BATAVIA.. IOWA',VASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF To 4 FRANK FISHEL, OF BATAVIA, NEWYYORK. I

ELECTRICAL GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whmn 2'15 via/y concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN E. THOMAS, a citizen of the United. States, residing at Batavia, in the county of Jefi'erson, State of Iowa, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Electrical Guns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to guns, and more particularly to electrical guns, and has for its object to provide a gun equipped with an electrical apparatus including a novel arrangement of arts constructed to ignite a charge of pow er within a gun.

Another object is to provide agun equipped with a safety-stop movable to lie at times in position to prevent premature discharge of a gun.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description.

In the drawin s forming a portion of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the gun. Figs. 2 and 3 show different forms of the cartridges adapted for use in the gun.

Referring now to the drawin s, there is shown the stock 5 and breech 6 o a gun, the former having a chamber 7 therein and a passage 8 communicating with the chamber and correspondin to the usual tri ger-o enin this passage eing located at t e un er si e of the stock. In the upper portion of the stock there is a longitudinally-extending slot 9 lying somewhat rearwardly of the vertical plane of the passage8, as shown.

Located within the stock there is 'a batteryi 10, including one or more cells, and adjacent to this battery there is disposed stock an induction-coil 11 which is connected with the battery by one .wire of a primary circuit 12. The other wire 13 of-theprimarycircuit extends from the battery to' a springplate 14, secured within thestock, this plate extending longitudinally of the stock and lying with its free end adjacent tov the slot 9. A second springlate 15 is secured within the stock forwar y of the slot 9 and extends rearwardly thereover, and slidably engaged in this slot there is the shank 16"of a thumbbutton 17, which lies exteriorly of the stock, the inner end of this shank carrying a me- Patented III arch 20, 1906.

tallic plate 18 of a length to lie at times in enportions of both 'holds this plate yieldably at the rearward limit of its movement and out of engagement with the plate 15, though it will be seen that the plate 18 may be moved forwardly by ressing upon the thumb-piece 17 to estabish electrical connections'between the plates 14 and 15. v

Secured within "the lower portion of the stock forwardlyand rearwardly of the passage 8 are blocks 20 and 2 1, respectively, the formerbeing connected with the spring-plate 15 by means of a wire 22, and extending rear: wardly from this block 20 there is a finger 23, having a spherical rearward end 24.

A spring-plate 25 is secured to the block 21 and extends forwardly over the passage 8, the free end of this plate lying normally beneath and in spaced relation to the end 24 of the finger 23. A finger-button 26 has its stem 27 engaged in the passage 8 and may be pressed-upwardly to engage the plate 25' and move the latter initia ly into engagement with the rearwardv end of the finger 23 and then beyond this finger, thus making and breaking contact therewith, and the block 21 is connected, by means of a wire 28, with the induction-coil 11, the blocks 20 and 21 being electric conductors, as will bereadilyunderstood.'

In the breechblock 29 of the gun there is a piece of insulating material 30, having a con- A cartridgeofpeculiar construction is used tact-piece 31 therein, to whichthere is electric- Jally' connected a wire 32, which is also 0on vnected with the'induction-coil 11 and thus forms a portionof the secondary circuit. The .ffcontacts iece 31 extends to the outer face of the ins ator 30', and grounded in the metallic ifi' ech-block 2'9 'therelis a'wire 33, which is also connected with the induction-coil and forms the'other.'portion of the secondary O11- cujt; g I

in connection with the resent gun; and it consists of a'metallic hee -piece 19, having an I opening 20 therein communicatin wlth the interior. of the shell and c'orrespon 'ng to the usual cap-opening. Frictionally engaged in this openin there is a metallic sleeve 21,

within whic there is tightly disposed an in-' sulating-core 34, having a central electrode 35 extending through the inner and outer ends of the core and in position to rest against the contactiece 31 when the cartridge is in the barrel 0 the gun.

A finger 36 is carried by the sleeve 21 and extends inwardly toward the electrode 35, thus forming a second electrode, and in view of the fact that this seleeve 21 lies in enga ement with the metallic heel-piece 19 and t e latter in engagement with the metallic breechblock 29, makin and breaking of the circuit through the medium of the elements 24 and 25, contact between the plates 15 and 18 having been established, will cause a spark to occur between the electrodes and ignite the powder or other explosive with which it will be understood the shell is charged.

It will be understood that in use when the gun is to be fired the. thumb of the user is ressed against the thumbiece 17 to move the plate 18 forwardly and into contact with the plate 15, after which the button 26 is pressed upwardly with the forefinger to make and brea the circuit as mentioned above. It will be seen that awiping contact is formed in both instances and cleanness of the ,contacting surfaces is thus insured.

In Fig. 2 there is shown a different form of the invention, in which a second electrodeAis embedded in the insulating-core 20 adjacent to the central electrode 35, its rearward end being turned outwardly to rest against the heel-piece of the cartridge, while its inner end is turned in the direction of the inner end of the central electrode.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a form of shell in which an insulating-disk B is disposed within the shell and has a central "electrode C, which extends outwardly through an opening D in the heel-piece for contact with the contact-piece 31, the inner end of the electrode ex tending through a central opening E, formed in a metallic plate F, disposed against the disk B at the inner side thereof and resting at its outer periphery against the heel-piece. A finger G extends inwardly from the disk F toward the electrode C, the spark arcing between the fin er and' the electrode. It will be understoo that the stock of the gun is formed of suitable insulating material to prevent the passage of the current from any of the conductors attached to the stock to the breech-block 29.

What is claimed is- 1. In a n, the combination with a stock having a ciamber therewithin and having a longitudinal slot in its upper portion communicating with the chamber, of contactplates disposed at opposite ends of the slot, a

plate slidably mounted for movement into and out of position to contact with both of the first-named plates simultaneously, a

shank secured to the slidable plate and extending outwardly through the slot, means for holding the sliding plate yieldably out of operative position, a make-and-break, electrical connections between one of the stationary plates and a member of the make-andbreak, a battery, electrical connections between said battery and the other of the stationary plates, an induction-coil carried by the stock, electrical connections between said coil and the battery, electrical connections between said coil and the other member of the make-and-break, means for operatin the make-and-break, a metallic breech-bloc for the gun, an insulating-body in the breechblock, a contactiece in the insulatin -body and extending t ough the forward face of the breech-block, electrical connections between the contact-piece and the inductioncoil, and electrical connections between the breech-block and the induction-coil.

2. In a glun, the combination with a stock having a c amber therewithin and having a longitudinal slot in its upper portion communicating with the chamber, of contactplates disposed at opposite ends of the slot, a plate slidably mounted for movement into and out of position to contact with both of the first-named plates simultaneously, a shank secured to the slidable plate and extending outwardly through the slot,means for holding the sliding plate yieldably out of operative position, a make-and-break, electrical connections between one of the stat onary plates and a member of the make-and-break, a battery, electrical connections between said battery and the other of the stat onary plates, an induction-coil carried by the stock, electrical connections between said coil and the battery, electrical connections between said coil and the other member of the make-andbreak, means for operating the make-andbreak, a metallic breech-block for the gun, an insulating-body in the breech-block, a contact-piece in the insulating-body extending through the forward face of the breech-block, electrical connections between the contactpiece and the induction-coil, electrical connections between the breech-block and the induction-coil, a cartridge disposed a ainst the breech-block, said cartridge inclu ing a metallic heel-piece contacting the breech-block, and having a passage formed-therethrou h communicating with the interior of the she I, an insulating-core in the passage, an electrode in the insulating-core, said electrode contacting the contact-piece and extending into the shell, and a' second electrode disposedwith one end in the shell and in spaced relation to the first-named electrode, said second electrode being electrically connected with the heel-piece.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN E. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

J. E. ALFRED, P. C. KITCHEN. 

